Surround sound questions

Unicorn · 15 Jan 2013 at 14:55

Heres my situation. My pc is now basically a media centre now i barely use it. Im looking at getting a 5.1 surround sound system for my tv which would run by optical input. I have a set of logitech x-530's which i love but i cant see a need in having 2 setups for 5.1 how could my pc work with my surround sound setup still keeping 5.1 if possible. My ps3 will work via the tv's optical link to the surround sound output i hope as its hdmi?

Help me please? Im not smart on this sound stuff

Marsman · 15 Jan 2013 at 15:14

Are you saying you want to use the X530's with the PS3?

Unicorn · 15 Jan 2013 at 15:19

Nah ill get rid of the x530's i think. I would use the x530's for it all and ditch the whole home cinema plan but i can't find a switch which will switch it between my tv and pc :/

Marsman · 15 Jan 2013 at 15:32

That is a problem with the majority of 5.1 PC speakers. They need 5.1 analogue sound device, which doesn't really exist outside of a PC or gaming laptop. I think some of the Logitech ones have a feature which can upmix stereo to 5.1, so you'd still get sound from all speakers, even if just the stereo/green jack is used. That's only a pseudo 5.1 though. That's probably the best you can do, assuming the X530's have this feature.

To get surround sound from a console or a TV, you'd need a speaker system with SPDIF optical or HDMI connections. PC speakers with SPDIF are not that common anymore. One thought some people have is to connect their TV to their PC with SPDIF optical input on the PC. The problem with that idea, is that all sound cards currently available that have SPDIF input, cannot decode 5.1 coming in. SPDIF requires Dolby Digital in order for 5.1 to work, which is what the PS3 and Xbox360 use. Without that, SPDIF is just stereo, and that's all sound cards can take with the SPDIF input.

Unicorn · 15 Jan 2013 at 15:36

The x530's have green/orange/black connections into the back of my pc, I have a block which converts them into rca so it can be used with my ps3. But then i have to unplug it if i want to use my tv with them or my pc. I think it must upmix as even with just the green cord plugged into my headphone out on my laptop all the speakers play sound as does the sub

Marsman · 15 Jan 2013 at 15:42

You can get stereo RCA switch boxes. That might allow you to connect them to the TV and PC without having to swap any cables, then just switch between them. If you're happy with how they work like that, i.e. upmixing stereo so you get sound from all speakers, then that would be the cheapest solution. You would probably need extra cables as well I'd imagine.

Unicorn · 15 Jan 2013 at 15:46

my pc doesnt have rca output though :/ I would be happy with that solution though to be honest its much cheaper and simpler to use a system i still like

Marsman · 15 Jan 2013 at 19:45

No, but that's why I mentioned that you'd probably need extra cables.

If you'd rather keep the X530's and do it as cheaply as possible, then first you'll need something like this. Connect a cable like one of these to the PC and one of the inputs on the switch box, then connect the TV to another input on the switch box using a RCA to RCA cable, if the TV has RCA output connectors. If not, then connect the switch box directly to the PS3 leads RCA connections. You can get RCA extension cables, if the PS3 lead doesn't reach. Then connect one of these cables to the green speaker jack and output on the switch box.

If however, you'd rather get rid of the X530's and get a 5.1 speaker setup with SPDIF and HDMI connections, then you're probably looking at around £200 for a cheapest budget system. Yamaha do one for £200, IIRC.